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Telstra jobs head to Philippines

Ben Schneiders

MORE than 500 Telstra call centre jobs, including at least 200 in both Melbourne and Sydney, are to be transferred to the Philippines.

TeleTech, the United States outsourcing firm that employs the workers, has confirmed the cuts.

It refused to say how many jobs would be lost because of the decision but a union and employees said the number would exceed 500, with the cuts to occur by March.

A call centre in Bourke Street, Melbourne, and a separate site in Sydney would lose at least 200 positions each, one employee said, with the workers told earlier this week.

The Age reported on Saturday that hundreds of jobs were set to be cut. The affected staff are not employed directly by Telstra but deal with the company's customers after they have bought a product or service.

A TeleTech statement said that "select" operations in Melbourne and Sydney would be relocated to the Philippines. "This strategic decision reflects TeleTech's commitment to enhance the quality of service it provides to Australian consumers," it said.

The decision follows a move by Telstra to award a contract to TeleTech for sales support positions as it reduced the number of contractors it used.

Community and Public Sector Union national president Louise Persse said the move by Telstra would see 500 jobs lost at TeleTech and possibly another 500 would go as contractors in Victoria lost their Telstra deals.

Total job losses from the move could stretch into the thousands as the former Telstra contractors were forced to shed staff, she said.